Page 31 of Little Rabbit

“Drink up, ladies,” Sofia orders as she tops off our wine glasses. “We’re going to need it as we make a plan.”

“What are we planning?” Gia asks as she sips her wine and looks at the other woman curiously. I can’t get over how much we look alike, or the fact that Gia is clearly the opposite of me. She’s much more shy and reserved, but I suppose that’s what she had to be to survive. After being around Rori and some of the women she’s helped, I know a woman who’s been broken before, who has been through pain and finally started living. Clearly the man in the other room is part of the reason she’s starting to emerge from her shell. I feel a strange sense of protectiveness over her, and I have the urge to go back in the other room and warn her husband about what will happen if he hurts her. Common sense tells me that will end with him wanting to kill me and not giving me a way out of here when they eventually do leave, so I keep it to myself. But I’ll be watching.

“We need to keep the men on their toes, and I for one have some ideas,” Sofia replies with a wicked grin as she takes a sip of her own wine. Now if you want to talk about a beautiful woman, you talk about Sofia Cattaneo.

Sofia is tall like her father and brothers, topping out at five-ten, with long, curly black hair, dark eyes, and curves she showcases nicely in a tight pair of black pants and a flowy white blouse. There’s a wildness in her eyes that instantly makes me like her. While Gia is shy, this woman is the polar opposite. She gives me a wink and adds, “I have a feeling you and I are going to get along really well. Pietro said he heard you threaten to slice Alessio’s throat. While I might be a little sad to lose the ass, I also can appreciate how mad he must have made you to say it.”

Gia’s eyes widen. “Wait, you threatened to kill Alessio? Why? He’s so sweet.”

“Sweet is not the word I would use, honey,” I scoff. “He’s a typical man that doesn’t like to be told no, and being an underboss has made him entitled. Not to mention, he seems to think his cock is a cure-all for disagreement. Must be hell when his men argue with him. Something tells me they probably stopped after the first time.”

Sofia spits out her wine and chokes a little but then starts to laugh hysterically. “Oh shit, oh shit,” she gasps out after another moment. “Oh, please let me be around when you say that to him.” She starts to laugh again.

Gia looks at her like she’s lost her mind. “How much wine have you had, Sofia?” she queries, glancing at the wine glass in her hand in concern.

Sofia waves her off. “Definitely not enough, but damn that’s funny as shit.” She points at me. “Yeah, you and I are going to get along well. And since we are, I’m just going to be honest and tell you I found out there is a marriage contract floating around somewhere that says that I’m supposed to marry Alessio or Massimo, his brother.”

I blink at that. “Wait, what? Alessio keeps telling me that he was promised Gia, and that he plans on marrying me instead since she’s taken. How can he do that if he’s supposed to marry you?” Anger and another emotion I don’t want to name start to build and swirl together in my belly. If he’s trying to fucking play me, I’m going to do more than slit his throat, I’m going to slice off his precious cock and feed it to him.

Sofia shakes her head. “It’s some stupid thing our fathers cooked up when I was born. They wanted a way to keep the families connected, but as we grew up, they realized I don’t see any of the Caruso boys that way. They’re family, pure and simple. Annoying brothers that constantly irritate the shit out of me. They’ve never enforced the contract and have clearly said they don’t plan to. So you’re free and clear, but I wanted to make sure that no one snuck that in on you to make you think I was trying to steal your man. Because they would say something about it without context just to fuck with us.”

“Alessio isn’t my man. He seems to think he is, but it’s not happening. I’m not going to be anyone’s consolation prize, and I’m also not about to be wrapped up in all of this if I can help it.”

“Hate to tell you, darling, but you already are. You were born to a mafia family and secreted away. That alone means they want you back to use you as leverage. And your family is fucked in the head enough that they wouldn’t think twice about it. No offense, darling,” she adds quickly to Gia.

Gia shakes her head. “No, they are. But I don’t consider them my family anymore. Nico is my family, and you. I guess that makes the Carusos family too, by extension.” A soft smile pulls at her lips, and I have to take it to mean she’s okay with that.

“Of course you are.” Sofia beams. But her smile quickly slides away when she looks back at me. “I know this is probably a huge shock for you, and a huge mind-fuck to realize everything that’s now been thrust into your life, but I’m a big believer of going with the flow and making things work to my advantage. And since I know Alessio has probably done shit all to tell you anything other than to order you around, I figure now is the time for you to ask your questions and we’ll tell you what we know.”

Some of my anger dissipates. I sigh and take a large gulp of wine. I’m going to need it for this discussion. “I’m just so fucking mad at the whole situation. I haven’t had any time to process it all, and Alessio refuses to let me. I need space and I really need to decompress and think things through. My whole life just got turned upside down and he can’t see that. He can’t see that I’ve been in a fight or flight scenario ever since he stalked me to my apartment in LA. Now I’ve met my sister, and it feels like I’m on a constant rollercoaster. Up and down and around, and I want to settle.”

Sofia regards me for a moment and then nods. “You know what, you’re right. How about we take this out to the pool and we’ll talk and relax?”

“Are we going to let them know?” Gia asks, glancing over her shoulder at the hallway.

“And deprive your man of the chance to hunt you down? I think not,” Sofia grins wickedly. “Especially when we both know it’s going to do is leave you walking funny in the morning with a huge smile on your face.” Gia’s face flushes with embarrassment, and I can’t help but grin.

“Damn, little sis, there’s definitely a story there. You’re going to have to spill the details,” I tease, roping my arm through hers as we head out of the kitchen through a back entrance and outside into the spacious backyard. Sofia gives me a quick look of approval, and Gia wears a wistful smile.

“I really do hope we can be friends, Sienna,” she whispers tentatively. “I…I always wished for a friend but could never have one. I never wished for a sister though, because I never wanted one to go through what I had gone through.” She looks away, and my heart cracks and fills with guilt.

“I think we will be. And we’ll be sisters too, but we’ll probably have to work toward that.” I wink at her when she looks back at me. “I’ll bitch when you steal my clothes, and then you can bitch back when I steal yours. We’ll drive your husband crazy.”

Gia relaxes and giggles. “I like to keep him on his toes, so I’m good with that.”

Sofia leads us to the pool area, and we slip off our shoes. I roll up my pants while the other two have shorts on, and we sit on the edge of the pool, our legs dangling in the water. I let out a happy sigh. “Oh, yeah, this is what I needed.” The water is warm and soothing and I can’t wait until I can take a dip in it.

“So, tell us everything, Sienna,” Sofia encourages. “And if you want a room all to yourself, I’ll make sure you get set up with one. Screw Alessio.”

I give her a grateful look. “I’m going to take you up on that. I need some space from Alessio. He’s…he’s a bit much for me right now. It’s a lot to get through, but I’ll try to give a short version.”

“I heard the guys talking about it but I didn’t really pay much attention,” Sofia says with a smirk. “I just know that most of them were laughing and taking bets.”

“Nico did seem really pleased about something,” Gia agrees, arching a brow at me in question.

Now it’s my turn to smirk as I tell them everything. Gia’s mouth hangs open the majority of the time, while Sofia laughs and encourages me to continue. When I finally finish, Sofia leans over Gia and high-fives me. “You, darling, are my new favorite person,” Sofia says giddily. She looks at Gia and adds, “You’re still up there, love, but you have to agree she’s pretty awesome.”

“Oh, no, I agree. But now I want you to show me how you did some of that stuff. I don’t want to get caught unaware; I want to be able to protect myself if I have to.”

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